Friday, January 20, 2012

Them curves be lethal! So I've started progress on blue rose, by first working on her structural garments. I'm shaped like a boy, so I use many many things to try and help me get the curves I need for costuming. For Blue Rose that entails first and foremost a waist cincher, which is an underbust corset. For Blue Rose my boyfriend and I are doing some research and testing out different ways that we can get the right effect without losing the cinching of the waist area since her costume rides low both in the front and the back. For now here's the progress, and when I'm done I plan on typing up a better tutorial on making this sucker.

First I found a pretty simple pattern online, at burdastyle that was free located here. Important note on this pattern though, it appears that the '4' piece is flipped, so keep that in mind when you're sewing :)!

I sewed it up according to the pattern given, out of spare twill I had laying around. Now since I needed to fit it I just cut holes in the back laced it with spare ribbon and then sewed the Center Front Opening shut so that I could fit it properly on me. After fitting it I discovered that I needed to reduce the pattern by about two inches since the corset touches when I tie it up, and there should always to about two inches opening in the back. So I've currently got the pattern pieces sized down and ready for round 2 of mock ups tomorrow!

Here it is lying out on my table, in all it's hugely sloppy and unattractive glory!

And here it is loosely pinned onto the mannequin ^___^!

All in all I think I'm just happy to have some type of progress going on!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

It has officially begun! I've officially started on my newest cosplay :). I'm almost finished with her wig, in all its (newb) glory! It's only the second time I've worked with extensively styling a wig, (and can I just say the first time was a certifiable disaster), so overall I'm really happy with it! I'm loving EpicCosplay's wigs as well! They're so soft and I love the matte-ness of the fibers, and the easy stylibility--(not sure if thats a word?!) of the bangs!

Moving on--
I've placed my order for the TV 103 Elliptical Cage Crinoline + Bone Casing from Truly Victorian this morning to start work on the cage for Saber Lily. I've decided to go with this because I really would like a good structure for the rest of the dress and armor. I already know that I'm going to drastically shorten the cage, as her dress only goes to just below the knee but it has the right shape :). I can't wait for it all to get here so I can start working on her, as Saber Lily has always been such a dream cosplay to attempt! (I know I say that a lot 'dream cosplay' but there are so many fabulous costumes out there that I can't not want to cosplay them ALL!)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Well, I'm back from ALA and had a BLAST!!! I walked away from con happy and I'm totally going to go again next year, I didn't buy much this year, but I did manage to purchase two wigs from Epic Cosplay. I've heard about them, and to be honest I've stuck with Arda until now, but I loved the color swatches I saw in person, and so far the wigs are beautiful. They're soft and silky and I like that they have long bangs. I ended up buying two butt length wigs, one in a very pale silvery white and one in a pretty pale yellow blonde; for irisviel and saber respectively. I like the colors a lot, as one of my few complaints with Arda is that their wigs don't seem to hold bang styling really well, and their blondes are slightly too fakey cartoony for me. Still we'll see!

On another note I got 9 ribbons this year :D, I'm thinking of passing one out next year ^3^, but we'll see! I'm excited to start working on Saber, so see you on the flip side!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

So let me get this out, I was walking around ALA friday night in my Sheryl costume and found myself rudely awakened by these two ladies who were sitting down in the hallway. As I walked by one of them very loudly and pointedly said to her friend so that I would hear as I walked by, "Wow, look at all these SLUTS that cons bring out. I just know that they spent SO MUCH TIME working on their costumes, pft."

I was absolutely horrified. Absolutely. I didn't quite know what to say because these ladies didn't know me, and as a matter of fact had no idea what kind of cosplayer I was. I got mad and sad and hot and cold in the span of three minutes. I had worn that costume and made it FOR ME. That's the thing, I love Sheryl so much and wanted to see if I could be as confident and brave as she is. It's nothing to do with validation from other people when I'm wearing very little, no, it's for my own validation. I want to be proud and confident in my own body, and be so proud and confident that I can walk around a convention hall like that and not care that people are judging me, but know that I'm beautiful and comfortable in my own skin--enough to wear such a scantily clad outfit without people judging me. It's because of women like that that I was scared to try and do so in the first place! I learned that it doesn't matter what they think though, I think it only matters what I think--and I think I look beautiful inside and out so I shouldn't let people like that hurt me.

On another note, what shocked me the most about the whole thing is these women were not in costume either! Not to mention I had a very very elaborate costume upstairs Jane, that I had made so, I felt they were quick to judge--not to mention sad as it sounds that Jacket took a LOT of work!! I made damn well sure that it fit and looked right and that even the red details were applied in the same order as the jacket online.

So I guess in short, in the world of cosplay people shouldn't be so quick to judge, and I think that everyone should be beautiful and comfortable in their own skin. What about you guys? Any opinions? Or similar stories?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Velvet is going both simultaneously hard and easy! I drafted her top from scratch, which went really smoothly but then I ran into problems with her hood. Overall I think the hardest part so far has been on what fabrics to use for her ;O;. I originally bought red velvet to use for her skirt and hood, but I didn't like the drape of it so in the end her costume is almost completely made out of suede. The black part on her shirt is a nice smooth stretch suede, while all the red is a heavy drapery suede--I'm not too sure because the discount store I shop at doesn't really keep detailed information about their fabrics, still I love them and they have an amazing selection compared to Joanns!

The red suede is a bit uncomfortable and heavy, but it gives a much better drape then the velvet was giving me so I'm happy :3. The red puffs on her sleeve are also a taffeta. I had ordered two wigs for her--due to some miscommunication on my end @__@; however, that worked out as I messed up on my first attempt =3= so it worked out for the best that I ended up having a fallback wig :D. I'll eventually get a better wig, but right now I'm in a bit of a time crunch trying to get things done in time for ALA @__@.

Right now I'm working on the stars for her hood and cap, my boyfriend has printed them out on his 3D printer, and we've been beveling the edges and working on smoothing them before painting and attaching them :3. I really wanted that soft edged look that Odin Sphere has to come across. Otherwise I'm working on her cap and her hip swag; as it has a fairly peculiar drape :O. Anyway, here's a progress shot from Cosplay.com of me :D, more to come later--when I hopefully will have a completed costume ^3^.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Velvet has a gorgeous outfit. I'm not going to lie I think it's visually appealing; and beautiful! I decided to try and do Velvet after I finally started to play Odin Sphere. I'm going to attempt Gwendolyn later, but I loved Velvet and her design so much that I've decided to try my hand at her. I think it's a trend that I'm enjoying this slightly scandalous costumes! My boyfriend says its cuz I'm repressed, maybe he's right; all I know is Velvet is strong, and badass and I'm excited to try and do her justice

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Just finished watching Tiger & Bunny, and I LOVED IT. I loved the concept, loved the designs, and I LOVE HEROES!!! It was an amazing anime, and I'm determined to get a huge group of the heroes together at some point! I actually loved blue rose too, I looooved her catch phrase and giggle thinking about it everytime!